Air Force flies past Rice rugby

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by Neel Desai

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The Rice rugby football club gained respect beyond the hedges in the last two weeks, after winning the Texas Rugby Union Championships and finishing third in the Western Rugby Union Championships.

On March 23 and 24, the team traveled to Dallas for the Texas Rugby Union Championships. The Owls' first match, against Southwest Texas State University, was nearly their last.

Due to windy conditions, the kicking game became very important. Rice had the wind at their backs in the first half and used the advantage to build a 20-point lead with Chris Blache scoring a try and Pete Marketos converting kicks. In the sceond half, Rice hung on to win 20-17.

In the tournament final, Rice faced Louisiana State University. Toward the end of the first half, Rice scored two tries to pull ahead, despite working against the wind, 12-3.

Midway through the second half, Marshall Pounds put the game away when his try made the score 26-3. Blache, Wes Yeackle, Shoney Katz, Matt Bayazitoglu, Roscoe Ahn and Kyle Hammerick all scored tries to make the final score 43-3.

The win allowed Rice to advance to the Western Rugby Union Championships on April 3 and 4, hosted by the Owls on campus.

Competing against Rice in the tournament were powerhouses United States Air Force Academy, Northeast Missouri State University, the University of Kansas, Saint Louis University, John Brown University, the University of Nebraska and the University of New Mexico at Highlands.

Once again, Rice received a scare in the opening match. Saint Louis took an early 5-0 lead. Yeackle, Bayazitoglu, Blache and Thomas Hutchinson scored for the Owls as Rice advanced to a 26-16 win.

In the semifinals Rice faced the Air Force Academy. The momentum oscillated early as Rice went up 3-0 and Air Force tied it up at 3-3. Rice ended the half with an emotional goal line stand.

In the second half, Air Force made it 10-3 with a try. Then with the score 10-6, Marketos appeared to score a try, but a penalty was called on Air Force before the score.

With 10 minutes left in the match, Air Force scored a try off a line out. An Air Force player appeared to block John Schlitt, but there was no call by the referee.

Ahn scored a try late in the match to make the score 15-11, but Rice could draw no closer.

"The game was close. If a few kicks or calls had gone our way, we could have won. Only two teams got to go, and unfortunately we weren't one of them," Katz said.

Blache said, "We went in to the tournament thinking we could hit them with the one-two punch, but unfortunately Air Force bobbed and weaved."

Northeast Missouri went on to defeat Air Force 19-18 in the finals. Rice defeated New Mexico 26-22 to take third place.

"This past year we easily played some of the best rugby that has ever been played at Rice," Team Captain Blake Hutchinson said.

The Owls will return this fall without graduating seniors Mike Dowling, Hutchinson, Pounds, Schlitt, Marketos and Katz. "We will really miss the seniors for their leadership abilities and other fine qualities. However, Rice will always field a strong team," rugby player Ron LaFond said.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the April 12, 1996 issue.

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